Responsible Futurism: Designing South Asian Plural Futures

Led by sound practitioner Murthovic and worldbuilder Thiruda, Elsewhere in India reimagines South Asian cultural narratives through a hopeful Indofuturist lens, part of a broader network of Indian studios quietly building an alternative to the monocultural futures arriving on our screens, through a practice called Responsible Futurism: braiding ethnographic research, archival intelligence, and digital worldbuilding into a single visual discipline.

In this keynote, the duo maps a practice that refuses singular futures, illustrated through two worldbuilding projects — Antara and Elsewhere in India. From Meenakshi, a cultural cyborg rooted in the lived practice of classical dancer Jayalakshmi Eshwar, to AI reimagined as Archival Intelligence opening pathways for the digital repatriation of heritage; from decolonised video games and pirate broadcasts salvaging suppressed musical archives, to folk artists co-authoring stories with machines. These are plural, hopeful worlds that invite communities in through games, films, comics, performances, and location-based immersive experiences.

Rather than singular artefacts, Responsible Futurism demonstrates how generative AI can be bent toward cultural good: preserving heritage, repatriating archives, and amplifying the stories that dominant tech futures tend to flatten.

Don't miss their Canadian debut: Murthovic and Thiruda bring Elsewhere in India to the Dome for Nocturne 3; their first time performing in Canada, with an immersive performance that brings their speculative worlds into physical space.

Please note: this activity will be in English, with live transcription available.